Wow, really didn't expect this awesome answers. Community really is strong in this one, gotta believe now.
In answer to your questions:
1. First boot after flashing SD card - approx 2 to 3 minutes for initialisation, expansion of file system and system checks, subsequent boots 20 to 30 seconds. However most people leave their Pi's on 24/7, power drain is negligible.
2. Plays anything you throw at it, up to 20Mbit/s is direct played, anything over that is transcoded automatically except for really old Divx media which is always transcoded. It passes DD and DTS to a capable receiver for a full surround sound experience.
3. Rasplex is CEC enabled so you can use your TV remote and hide the Pi round the back of the TV.
I've looked at what you are proposing, however, I would just get a 512Mb Model B+, 4 Gb Class 10 micro SD card, and a minimum 2 amp power supply, you probably have a spare HDMI cable, forget the 'starter packs'. Using Ethernet direct to router is best way forward.
If you want any more info please post back and we'll try to answer your questions
Regards
Thank you for answering my questions! That's true, no need for extra cables. My TV is Philips 42PFL3512D / 12 (over 5 years old, 42") and I think it doesn't have proper CEC support, so it's a no go by default.
Leaving it on 24/7 never occurred to me, that's funny. Maybe because I have used the regular HTPC forever and it does consume power if left on. Good point, because Rasp runs on minimum power. Enlightening, thanks.
Hello!
I use raspberry + rasplex + Synology and I love it. For points 1 and 2 NedtheNerd already gave you the answer, for point 3 I simply use my smartphone with the plex app installed on it.
Consider also to buy this in case you have cable problems. It works perfectly!
I don't have a case neither, I just tightened the HDMI cable and the raspberry is simply supported by it behind my TV.
I leave it up 24/7.
In my opionion is totally worth!
Cheers
Yeah, case is not that important if the Raspberry Pi is hidden, but I just don't like to touch the circuit board so I guess I'm going to end up with some case. Thank you for the answer!
I would suggest you use a standard remote for the family... to avoid headaches. I paired my dishTV remote with the TV, then used the DVD button to talk to plex. I set the DVD remote codes to a samsung DVD player, then used FLIRC adapter for 20$ to receive the codes into the usb port.
As a note, my family is used to my "projects" and are cool with tinkering with issues... If was setting this up at my sisters house I would use an amazon stick or HD... The interface is faster and is supported officially by plex...
Price for a dedicated rasplex is about 55$... pi 40, SD card 8$, case 5, cable free from your old cell or 3$
Price for an amazon stick, 40$ HD/$100
I love my rasplexs and run 3 in my house. They are powered off the back of each TV, share the TVs remote and support 37" 720p TVs...
My family is also used to my projects and for having this as a project is one of the main reasons why I'm considering this. Also, I don't trust those sticks, they are not popular in Finland and for example Roku box is quite useless in here because the channels etc. won't work and it would feel strange to try to fork some other system to devices they are not planned to.
Flirc looks nice, never heard of it before. Does it suppor power on/off, if I for some reason want to shut Rasp? I don't want to go and search manually to turn it on. However Flirc is quite expensive when compared to remotes I've seen.
I'm quite sure my TV does not support HDMI-CEC. This looks awesome. Does it have power on/off functionality, it doesn't say? or does Raspberry Pi handle that by default?
I would caution that some types of files play ok linearly but don't play well if you try to do lots of skipping around in the files. I find this is the case with recorded TV files in MPEG-2 format (from OTA TV) and also recorded TV encoded by the Hauppauge HD-PVR (which are 1080i h.264 files with DD 5.1 in a .ts container).
My files are mostly like this (or similar with 720p), will this play well (also with skipping?):
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 1
File size : 9.67 GiB
Duration : 1h 59mn
Overall bit rate : 11.5 Mbps
Encoded date : UTC 2014-12-18 14:27:55
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.2.0 ('Turn It On Again') built on Mar 4 2008 13:20:25
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1
Attachements : MSYH.TTF / MSYHBD.TTF / tahoma.ttf
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 5 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1h 59mn
Bit rate : 10 000 Kbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 800 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.272
Stream size : 8.22 GiB (85%)
Writing library : x264 core 130 r2273 b3065e6
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:-3:-3 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=11 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.95:0.15 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=32 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-5 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=0 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=8 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=95 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=10000 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:0.90
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Audio
ID : 2
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Mode : 16
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Codec ID : A_DTS
Duration : 1h 59mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 509 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 24 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 1.26 GiB (13%)
Title : 英语
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Text
ID : 3
Format : ASS
Codec ID : S_TEXT/ASS
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Sub Station Alpha
Compression mode : Lossless
Title : chs&eng
Language : Chinese
Default : Yes
Forced : No
